A suicide note with writings about racial pride, hate speech on a weapon. What we know about the San Diego shooting suspects

By Helen Regan, Blake Ellis, John Miller, Mark Morales, CNN

(CNN) — Authorities are investigating what led a 17-year-old homeschooled wrestler and an 18-year-old to allegedly open fire on San Diego’s largest mosque on Monday, killing three people in what police have called a hate crime.

The suspects were found dead in a car on a street close to the mosque with apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to multiple law enforcement officials.

As part of their investigation, authorities are looking at hate speech scrawled on one of the weapons used in the attack, and a suicide note that contained writings about racial pride, officials have said.

The FBI is working closely with law enforcement partners, said Mark Remily, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego field office, adding investigators were interviewing family and friends of the suspects and “gathering all the evidence from the scene for review.”

The 17-year-old suspect has been identified by a law enforcement source and audio from police dispatch as Cain Clark, while the identity of the second suspect has not been released.

About two hours before the shooting was reported, police received a call from Clark’s mother who reported her son and vehicle missing, alongside several of her weapons, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

The mother said her son was suicidal and was with a companion, both dressed in camouflage, Wahl said, which triggered a “larger threat assessment picture.” The number of weapons he took from the home led investigators to believe the teen may be a threat to others, the chief said.

Dispatch audio reviewed by CNN captures officers reporting around 12 p.m. Monday a search for “two white males… wearing all camo” that could be armed with a stolen handgun, a shotgun and a rifle.

When police arrived at the scene, they found the three deceased victims outside the mosque, who authorities have not identified. One of those killed was a security guard whose actions were described by police as “heroic” and “saved lives.”

Law enforcement began an active-shooter response and entered the mosque and an adjacent school before discovering the vehicle with the two male suspects inside, both deceased.

Authorities are carrying out search warrants to follow any leads and information to determine how the shooting unfolded and what could have been done to prevent it, Wahl said. The investigation is being aided by copious evidence, including security cameras at the mosque.

“This is a city and a community’s absolute worst nightmare as a free society,” Wahl said.

Hate speech investigated

A suicide note left in one of the suspect’s parents’ home contained writings about racial pride, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN. Additionally, hate speech was scrawled on one of the weapons that was used in the shooting, the officials said.

The specifics of the language were not immediately clear.

But there was no specific threat to any place mentioned in the note and weapons of one of the suspects who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, Wahl said.

“There was no specific threat, especially no specific threat to the Islamic Center. It was just general hate kind of speech that I think covered a wide gamut,” he said. “Again, we are still actively investigating this as we speak, but it was more generalized.”

Who was Cain Clark

Clark was a 17-year-old high school wrestler whose family had put him in an online schooling program in 2021, according to officials.

Before he was homeschooled, Clark attended Kate Sessions Elementary School and San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, said James Canning, a spokesperson for San Diego Unified School District.

Since Madison High School was considered Clark’s neighborhood school, he was able to participate in activities and sports there, and he was a member of the school’s wrestling team from 2024 to 2025, Canning said. Clark had not participated in any school activities this year, he added.

The school’s wrestling team posted on Instagram in January 2024 congratulating Clark for taking first place at a tournament and winning an award.

Clark had been on track to graduate and had no disciplinary history except in elementary school, when he punched someone in the leg in 2015, Canning said.

Relatives of Clark told CNN they were in shock.

In an interview outside their home, David and Deborah Clark, his grandparents, told CNN “we’re trying to process this,” and said they were “very sorry for what happened.”

A former wrestling teammate, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation, told CNN that he remembered Clark as a homeschooled student who had been trying to make friends and fit in with the team.

“He seemed like he was a good kid,” said the former teammate, who only knew him from attending wrestling practices and meets together. “He didn’t seem like he would do something like that.”

The teammate said he had never heard Clark expressing Islamophobic or racially motivated sentiments or seen him do anything violent.

“The kid was trying to fit in,” he said. “He was always just trying his best – he was trying to fit in and find friends.”

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CNN’s Isabelle Chapman, Casey Tolan, Scott Glover, Karina Tsui, Elise Hammond, Zoe Sottile and Emma Tucker contributed reporting.